The Impact of Technology on Social Behavior

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Author: Ceulemans, Pauline, W. Title: The Impact of Technology on Social Behavior

The accompanying research report is submitted to the University of Wisconsin-Stout, Graduate School in partial completion of the requirements for the

Graduate Degree/ Major: MS School Counseling

Research Adviser: Denise Brouillard

Submission Term/Year:

December, 2012

Number of Pages: 32 Style Manual Used: American Psychological Association, 6th edition

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My research adviser has approved the content and quality of this paper.

STUDENT: NAME Pauline Ceulemans DATE: 12/12/12

ADVISER: (Committee Chair if MS Plan A or EdS Thesis or Field Project/Problem): NAME Denise Brouillard DATE: 12/12/12

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Ceulemans, Pauline W. The Impact of Technology on Social Communication Abstract

This study discusses the impacts technology has had on social behavior. The change in communication mediums is addressed. Although face-to-face communication has decreased, technology has provided opportunities for aiding in communication. The video game and the Internet community are investigated for their positive and negative traits, but also for the information the new Internet culture can provide for us. Internet "trolls" can give us information on dealing with bullies, and social media websites make it clear that today's youth may need to be educated on the appropriate use of communication technology.

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The Graduate School University of Wisconsin Stout

Menomonie, WI Acknowledgments I would like to thank EBSCO Industries for making my research process flow smoothly. I am grateful to the University of Wisconsin ? Stout: Graduate School for giving me the opportunity to earn my Master's degree, and to Denise Brouillard for being my thesis adviser.

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Table of Contents ............................................................................................................................................ Page Abstract ...........................................................................................................................................2 Chapter I: Introduction ...................................................................................................................5

Statement of the Problem.....................................................................................................8 Purpose of the Study ...........................................................................................................8 Research Questions..............................................................................................................8 Assumptions and Limitations..............................................................................................8 Definition of Terms.............................................................................................................9 Chapter II: Literature Review .......................................................................................................11 Change in Communication Methods ................................................................................11 Video Games............................................................................................................15 Internet Culture .................................................................................................................19 Social Media Websites ......................................................................................................22 Chapter III: Summary, Discussion, Recommendations ................................................................25 Summary ...........................................................................................................................25 Discussion .........................................................................................................................26 Recommendations..............................................................................................................27 References ........................................................................................................................28

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Chapter I: Introduction Technology is constantly evolving and changing how we do things. There have recently become many more means of communication, and many more adolescents have access to them. School-aged children can communicate with both people they know and strangers through communication sources that are not face-to-face. This may have affected the way adolescents behave, particularly those who have had these new interaction methods the entirety of their lives. To them, face-to-face communication might not be the norm. The concern is that this may have had a detrimental effect on their interpersonal communication abilities. Simply not having as much in-person communication might have allowed individuals to be less able to pick up on some social cues. Because people who communicate through non faceto-face mediums do not regularly see people talking, they may have difficulty recognizing facial indicators of moods and emotions. Body language is also absent from these forms of communication. This is important because it has always been a critical aspect of interacting with other people. The full meaning of what somebody is saying might not be in just the words. Just like incorrect grammar can make a sentence confusing, failing to comprehend body language and facial changes can cause the intended message to be lost to the listener. This could cause a lot of difficulty for adolescents when they reach the workforce; they would be communicating with people who did grow up using primarily face-to-face communication to interact with each other. Technology may have had an effect on social behavior due to the online environment, and it might be unrelated to the lack of face-to-face communication (Diamanduros, Downs & Jenkins, 2008). People seem to be less politically correct when they are online and are not dealing directly with people (Diamanduros et al., 2008; Draa & Sydney, 2009; Sabella, 2007). This is likely due to the anonymity fostered by the Internet (Draa & Sydney, 2009). However,

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even when the user is not anonymous, Internet users still seem to be more likely to express themselves in the public domain of the Internet. They may provide much more information about themselves than they would in a public real life setting. This could simply be because Internet users do not feel like people can see what they are doing - that it does not have the same real life consequences (Draa & Sydney) - but it could also be that they might not know what is appropriate to share, since others share openly as well. There are social side effects when making online comments, and adolescent Internet users may be unaware of the consequences of their actions. Educating students on this subject may become necessary as more people grow up with more technology.

Some people include video games as a detrimental use of technology, but video games can have positive, prosocial themes (Greitemeyer & Osswald, 2011; Jin, 2011). They can be educational (Griffiths, 2002). It seems that video games, like other forms of technology, are not detrimental unless they are misused or the user does not understand the implications of their actions. Playing a video game so much that it interferes with life is not good (Van Rooij, Meerkerk, Schoenmakers, Griffiths & Van De Mheen, 2010), but the problem lies with the player's misuse of technology, not in the game. In the case of people who choose to play video games excessively, depression may be the issue instead of addiction. Depressed individuals who wanted to avoid their life responsibilities might try to distract themselves with fantasy worlds. This is not to say that people who enjoy fantasy or video games are depressed, but that the excessive use of video games is correlated with depression (Pezzeca, 2009). The potential tendency for depressed people to find something to distract them from life would not be specific to video games. If a person chose to read books instead of going to work, it would have the same detrimental effect that is found when people play video games too often.

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Some video games have an online community, and the culture of the Internet can provide hints for dealing with bullies. The online community can be friendly, but it also has a darker side, one that will take advantage of users who are not well acquainted with the online environment. Studying the behavior in this environment may shed some light on offline behavioral changes. Not only can the situations bullies put themselves into be viewed, but the response of others to the bullies can be observed. In some cases, the Internet community deals with bullies in a very productive way. However, anonymous Internet bullies cannot physically assault their victims, so the environment is inherently different.

Unlike anonymous Internet bullies, social media websites can contain bullies who are identifiable in real life. Adolescents seem to forget, be unaware, or indifferent that they are not anonymous when they use social media websites. Many comments are posted online that these students would not say if they were talking to people in person. Being able to communicate online to people certainly has its advantages, but some adolescents are not using the technology appropriately.

The social media format provides a link between the anonymity of the Internet and the real life relationships people have. This link between the two has very unclear boundaries, and adolescents sometimes make poor choices with their online statements that can get them into trouble in real life. Comments made online have caught the attention of school districts and local police departments have gotten involved (Kimberly, 2012). The situation could have been as simple as an adolescent making an extreme statement that they did not actually mean, and thinking that it did not matter because it was just on the Internet. Educating students on appropriate use of technology could alleviate this problem.

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It is important to be aware of how technology has affected social interaction, and to study the results of it. If students are suffering socially because of it, then while these adolescents are still in school, efforts can be made to improve social skill deficits for those who may need them. Knowing what is going on online is important for understanding what students are experiencing, and if we do not know, then we cannot help them. Statement of the Problem

Research indicates that adolescent use of technology has increased (Subrahmanyam & Greenfield, 2008), and this could have a negative effect on social capabilities and behavior. The repercussions of this change are unclear. This study will examine how social interactions and behaviors have changed in response to technology. Purpose of Study

The purpose of this study is to review literature on how technological advances have altered social behavior in adolescents who live in the developed world. Data collection was done in 2012. Research Questions

The following research questions will be addressed in this study. 1. How has technology impacted social behavior? 2. What should be done to accommodate changes in communication technology? Assumptions and Limitations It is assumed that the current school-aged population has had access to communication technologies like cellphone texting, messaging through the Internet, social media websites, and video games. It is also assumed that people in this age group spend less time than previous generations communicating face-to-face.

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